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Warriors Come Up For Air During Road Trip, Beat Wizards 106-102

What’s up sports fans? Well the drought is over. Thank God and the never say die Golden State line up. I guess Golden State did find that silver lining I was talking in my last post. The Warriors found some good in this road trip. They put together a win against the struggling Washington Wizards. Hey, the way this road trip has been going we’ll take it any way we can get it, and that’s pretty much the way they did it.

What was interesting was that Keith Smart, “The Smartest coach in Basketball” finally did something that I probably would’ve done two games ago, bench Andris Biedrins. I’m sure it was tough for him. I like Andris just like any other Warriors fan, but the guy just wasn’t showing enough tenacity, or showing resilience. I do have to credit Andris for his character. It was reported that his response was favorable. He complied and apparently wanted to do whatever it took to help the team win. “It’s great,” guard Monta Ellis said of Biedrins’ handling of the situation. “He’s a pro. He understands the situation, and he accepts his role, whatever that is. You can take your hat off to him. He understands that we’re all in this together.” Monta’s right, I take my hat off to him.

His response also shows just how this team’s ability to not be selfish, look out for the initial goal, and that is the assist the team in winning ball games, shows a progression in the teams maturity. Warriors come out the gate with good rebounding. Washington took a 12-4 lead to edge out the Warriors in the beginning of the first quarter. Even though Washington is in a slump, Golden State couldn’t allow them to use their key weapons, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee, and their point guard who will probably get rookie of the year John Wall. So instead they started matching them point for point. Steph Curry lead the way, by going to the basket and hitting three point shots in the first half. Golden State’s bench players collaborated to put together a 9-0 run.

By the second quarter the game got tied 42-42. Golden State closed out the half with a showtime type dunk by Reggie Williams, it gave the Warriors a 52-41 pt. lead going into the third quarter. Blatche finished with 20pts. 9 rebounds and six assists. JaVale McGee finished with 5pts., six offensive rebounds and 0 assists. Rookie sensation John Wall finished with 14 pts. 6 assists and 0 rebounds. So how did the Wizards keep it interesting without better production from their big three. They had good production from Josh Howard at 13pts. and 5 rebounds, but they had another. Someone who Golden State didn’t count on. His name is Nick Young. Mr. Young shot over the Warriors defense to procure 31pts. for himself. Some of his shots were simply amazing, especially down the stretch.

The game had 6.3 seconds left to play and Nick Young hit a three pointer from almost 38 feet to bring the game 103-102 lead for Golden State. One reason why the game was close towards the end is that Golden State did exploit Washington’s weak defense. They also capitolize on the boards by beating the Wizards 54-40 in rebounds, part of that was because of David Lee, he had 16 of those rebounds. Monta Ellis finished with 21pts., and Dorrell Wright added 14 pts. The house of Curry led all Golden State scores with 29pts. 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.“When you’ve gone through a streak of losing, to get a win—no matter how it ends up—nobody will pay attention to how the fourth quarter went,” Golden State coach Keith Smart said.

Down the stretch you could tell both teams were tired and you could also tell the both teams wanted a finale. “I’d like to think that when we outrebound the other team we have a very good win-loss record, so I try to set the tone and if shots come my way, they do, and if they don’t, they don’t,” Lee said. “My main concern is to continue rebounding.” Golden State snaps a 4 game losing streak and will be dealing with the Big Green Monster on friday night in Big Bad Boston. Remember folks it’s ALLBAYAREASPORTS.COM. Bay Area Sports Magnified!